As a father, former educator, son of a welder, and current member of the Prince William County School Board, I am very proud of the efforts that have been made to implement and expand Career and Technical Education offerings in our schools. 

According to a recent study from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, students in CTE courses graduate at a much higher rate when compared to the national graduation rate. PWCS offers a wide variety of rigorous and engaging CTE programs designed to improve academic and technical understanding, offer leadership opportunities and deliver instruction through realistic, hands-on applications. 

Our CTE students see the relevance and purpose in their learning as they prepare for post-secondary experiences, whether they plan to enter the workforce directly, seek additional training or enroll in a post-secondary institution.

For the first time this school year, thanks to a partnership with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Unity Reed High School is offering an electrical program. This is a partnership I helped facilitate during my first term on the board, and I am very proud to have this program in Prince William County.

Furthermore, game design and development was added this year to the offerings at Colgan, Freedom, Patriot and Woodbridge high schools, while cybersecurity was added as a class offerings at Battlefield, Forest Park, Patriot and Potomac high schools. The school division is also working to bring a new greenhouse to Brentsville District High School. 

These expanded programs complement the programs we have in place, including agriculture, automotive technology, building trades, culinary arts, JROTC, Growing Our Own (for future educators), practical nursing, biomedical science, cabinet-making, HVAC, plumbing, cosmetology, TV production and welding. Students may apply at their base schools or as full-time transfer students. 

Our CTE program also offers dual enrollment to students through Northern Virginia Community College. In fact, during the 2018-19 school year, PWCS had 1,459 students in dual enrollment with NVCC. 

Our students are also winning awards in the CTE area. Recently, Woodbridge cosmetology students competed in the Skills USA State Fair competition and earned the following awards: first place in the fantasy nail competition, third place in the mannequin fantasy comb-out competition and eighth place in the total look competition. Congratulations!

To find out more about our CTE offerings, go to www.pwcs.edu